Tag: Walk On The Wild Side

In celebration of her just-released, career-spanning album, An Evening Of New York Songs And Stories (out now on Amanuensis/Cooking Vinyl), Suzanne Vega will play two globally livestreamed concerts from New York City’s iconic Blue Note Jazz Club in Greenwich Village. The first will go live on October 7 at 9pm US Eastern Daylight Time for North American fans and the second will go live on October 8 at 8pm UK time (3pm Eastern), to accommodate U.K.and European audiences.

In a gesture of support for the independent live music industry, currently facing the existential threat of the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, Vega has partnered on the shows with independent venues and promoters in the United States and a series of UK and European promoters and major festivals, including Cambridge Folk, Isle of Wight and Underneath The Stars Festivals. All partners will benefit from a share of the ticket sales revenue. Tickets for each show available via Seated.com: https://events.seated.com/suzanne-vega – see below for further details.

The full-band set will feature the album’s New York-centric repertoire, honouring Vega’s long musical relationship with her hometown. She will be joined on the Blue Note stage by longtime guitarist Gerry Leonard, bassist Jeff Allen and keyboardist Jason Hart.

Recorded live in early 2019 at New York’s Café Carlyle with Leonard, Allen and keyboardist Jamie Edwards, An Evening of New York Songs And Stories includes familiar songs like ‘Luka’ and ‘Tom’s Diner’ alongside deep cuts from Vega’s catalogue such as ‘Frank And Ava’ and ‘Ludlow Street’. The mix of repertoire also features “New York Is My Destination” from Lover, Beloved: Songs from An Evening With Carson McCullers, her one-woman play about the Southern gothic novelist Carson McCullers.

Of the album, Vega says, “It is always a pleasure to play at the Café Carlyle in New York City, where this album was recorded. It is a small exclusive club that has hosted legends from Eartha Kitt to Judy Collins, and is also known to be the place where Jackie Kennedy met Audrey Hepburn. I love it for its bohemian old-world glamour! I decided it would be fun to perform a New York-themed show there with songs inspired by New York City or for which New York provided the backdrop, including ‘Walk On The Wild Side’ by my late, great friend, Lou Reed – a song I rarely heard him sing himself.”

Widely regarded as one of the foremost songwriters of her generation, Vega emerged as a leading figure of the folk-music revival of the early 1980s. Since the release of her self-titled, critically acclaimed 1985 debut album, she has written and recorded numerous songs that have become part of the contemporary music vernacular, including ‘Luka’, ‘Marlene On The Wall’ and ‘Tom’s Diner’, an a cappella piece that was remixed by U.K. electronic dance duo DNA and became a major club hit. Her albums, including her self-titled debut, the follow up, Solitude Standing and 99.9F have sold millions of copies worldwide. Vega was most recently seen in the cast of the Off-Broadway production Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice, where her performance earned praise from The New York Times as “brandy-voiced…a delightful, smoothly sardonic presence.”

Artist’s website: https://www.suzannevega.com/

SUZANNE VEGA—LIVE FROM THE BLUE NOTE NEW YORK

October 7—9 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time – https://events.seated.com/suzanne-vega

October 8—8 p.m. UK Time – https://events.seated.com/suzanne-vega

‘Walk On The Wild Side’ – official video: